H.D 8
March 4th, 2023
Before Viewing, the Video “The Story We Tell” please answer the following questions:
· How long do you think the idea of race has been around? Where did it come from?
· Do you think Africans were enslaved in the Americas because they were deemed inferior, or were they deemed inferior because they were enslaved?
Answers:
- The idea of race has been around for thousands of years. Historians suggest that it originated in ancient civilizations such as Greece and Rome. However, the concept of race as it is understood today, with the belief that certain physical and biological characteristics determine one’s worth or superiority over others, began to take shape in the 17th century during the European colonial expansion and the Transatlantic slave trade.
- The idea of Africans being inferior was used to justify their enslavement, rather than enslavement being a result of their perceived inferiority. European colonizers viewed Africans as inferior due to their physical and cultural differences, and they used this belief to justify the enslavement and exploitation of African people for economic gain. This idea was later reinforced through scientific racism and eugenics, perpetuating the idea of white supremacy and the belief in inherent racial hierarchies.
